Smallville: Amazons and Slayers
by Antonio Cabaas
Summary: A mysterious woman comes to Smallville, jealousies in the Smallville High Athletic Team take a odd turn, a mystery from the past reappears and Clark become involved in all of that.
1. Prologue

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Smallville: Amazons & Slayers

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by Antonio Cabañas

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Prologue

Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters were created and are owned by Joss Whedon. Smallville, Superman, Wonder Woman and all related characters are trademarks of DC Comics, which is owned by Warner Bros.

****

E-mail: borg31de777@yahoo.es.

****

Spoilers: Smallville second season until "Rosetta", and the entire Buffy the Vampire Slayer series

I wish to thank my beta-reader Carycomix for his help and support

Please, review!!!!

****

Summary: A mysterious woman comes to Smallville, jealousies in the Smallville High Athletic Team take a odd turn, a mystery from the past reappears and Clark become involved in all of that.

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Smallville. 1989

An old Mansion

Donna Falcon, the Vampire Slayer, dodged the powerful blow of the century-old vampiress and used the thrust gained to stake her in the heart. She was trying to locate the whereabouts of the other vampire, when the cry of the student that she had come to rescue reached her ears. She ran to the other room of the basement and there she found the vampire that she was hunting, Virgil Rawlings, former science professor of the Smallville High holding her former pupil Tina Maxwell by the neck.

" Don't dare to move further, Slayer, or the bitch dies! " said the vampire.

Donna froze where she was, less than a yard from the vampire.

" Tina, Tina, Tina. You know that all of this is your fault, do you?. If you hadn't rejected my propositions, I wouldn't have met Louise, and none of this would have happened. But the Slayer has already killed Louise, and we can be together until the end of ... "

Then the ground shook violently and Rawlings lost his hold on the teen. The Slayer used the narrow window of opportunity and launched herself against the vampire. 

" Flee, Tina! " said Donna, while the ground shook again. 

Tina ran toward the door and managed to get out of the old house, when there was what she thought was another quake. She looked at the sky and saw fireballs raining from the sky, and one of them seemingly directed toward her. She ran as fast as she could. When the fireball impacted in the old house, the shockwave knocked her to the ground, inconscious.

She woke some time later, and the first thing that she saw was Donna over her.

" Donna! I thought that you... "

" No, Rawlings was buried when the second quake made the floor of the main room fell. Then, I ran out of there as fast as I could. " said the Slayer.

The body of the vampire that had been Virgil Rawlings had been buried under tons of debris, filled with glowing green rocks from the meteorite that had fallen in the house.

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Before Nell's shop

" Nell! Thanks god that you are well! " said the black-haired woman. " Where are...? "

Before the woman could continue Nell pointed to a crater in the middle of the street. 

" Oh, my god! " said the woman, covering her mouth with her hands. 

Some sobs distracted her. Near where Nell was, a little girl dressed in a fairy costume was crying.

" They had just arrived and Lana was waiting for them when... this happened. " said Nell, and crumbled. Artemis Stevens comforted her friend as well as she could.

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Metropolis. Fourteen years later

" The Stevens? " said the man to the young woman that was talking to him. " Let me think... They moved to Smallville almost twenty years ago. He became a technician in the fertilizer plant and she started to work in a local cinema. I think that I have a photo somewhere. " 

The man went back to his flat and a few minutes later he returned with an old photo of a young couple before a building.

" This was the cinema. "

" Can I keep the picture? "

" If you want... "

__

Cleveland.

Buffy Summers, the Vampire Slayer, staked the vampire in the heart. 

" Twenty-two. " she said. " My god, have all the vampires here agreed to attack me tonight?. "

" The answer to that is "yes". " said somebody behind her.

Buffy turn around, ready to battle, and only saw a small man, a few meters from her, almost invisible in the mist that covered the graveyard.

" And you are...? "

" Let's say that I serve The Powers That Be, Slayer. " said the man. " Did you know Doyle, the defunct associate of Angel? "

" You have visions, don't you? "

" I see that you knew Doyle, but the answer is no, I only receive cryptic clues that have to be sent to a specific person. And I have one for you: Virgil Rawlings, 1989. "

" And what is the meaning of that? "

" That's your problem, not mine. " he said, before vanishing in the mist.

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London.

" Ah, hello, Buffy. " said Giles to the phone. " What?... Speak a bit slower, please... All right, Virgil Rawlings, 1989. I'll check... Well, I have already a few Watchers working, monitoring the young Slayers, and locating the ones that we could have missed... I'll call you in a few hours... Goodbye, Buffy. " Giles put the phone back on its cradle and turned to a red-haired woman with whom had been talking before. " Izzy, can you replace me at this desk? I have to check something. "

A motel in Cleveland

" Dawn, I'm waiting for a call of Giles. " said Buffy to her sister. " So, please end now! "

Dawn said good-bye to her friend, and hung up the phone. She had just done that when the phone rang. Before Dawn could react, Buffy was already talking to the phone.

" Giles?... Ok, you have found the reference... A Slayer fought a vampire with that name in... Smartville?... Ah, Smallville. And where is that?... Kansas? That isn't the place where there was a meteor storm a few years ago... Ok, we'll be... I have been attacked by 22 vampires tonight, Giles, so Dawn comes with me... As I was saying, tomorrow we'll be on the road... No? Why?... Oh, a plane will be ready in Columbus tomorrow... Ok, bye. " she hung up the phone and saw her sister preparing a case. " Smart girl. "

" Why do I have to come with you, Buffy? " said Dawn " I don't mind, after what happened last week, I have no friends left in the high school, but I'm curious. "

" There was one demon with the vampires that I defeated this night that called me "the Keeper of the Key". I killed the demon, but I`m afraid there might be others. " said Buffy. " God, I hoped that after the destruction of Sunnydale, and the awakening of the Slayers, I could simply have something resembling a normal life. I'm really tired of being the Slayer, Dawn, really, really tired. " 

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**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	2. Chapter 1: Arrivals

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Smallville: Amazons & Slayers

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by Antonio Cabañas

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Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters were created and are owned by Joss Whedon. Smallville, Superman, Wonder Woman and all related characters are trademarks of DC Comics, which is owned by Warner Bros.

****

E-mail: borg31de777@yahoo.es.

****

Spoilers: Smallville second season until "Rosetta", and the entire Buffy the Vampire Slayer series

I wish to thank my beta-reader Carycomix for his help and support

****

Answer to reviewers:

slincoln: As you can see, I now use quotation marks for dialogue.

manticore-gurl071134: Well, here is the update. 

ElizabethV: None of those. Nell is a character of the Smallville series, the aunt of Lana Lang. The scene where she appears in the prologue happens just after a scene on the Smallville pilot where we see the death of Lana Lang's parents when one of the meteorites impacts just on their car.

MajinGojira: Ok.

Sweet-Steffie: What is Buffy trying to say? You'll see. . . 

****

Summary: A mysterious woman comes to Smallville, jealousies in the Smallville High Athletic Team take a odd turn, a mystery from the past reappears and Clark become involved in all of that.

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Smallville.

". . .And then my mother said that although he was going to declare him non-guilty, she though that he was a damned a. . ." Pete Ross was commenting to his friend Clark Kent on their way out of the Smallville High School, when a girl almost threw Pete toward the nearby wall as she passed running alongside them. 

"Has anybody picked the license plate number of that truck?" said Pete while he was straightening up.

"I think that she was Arty Stevens." answered Clark

"Ah, the Female Athletics Team has training this afternoon, for the Championship."

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Outskirts of Smallville

A woman stepped out from a bus and started to walk. She was apparently in her late teens or early twenties, black-haired and blue-eyed, and was wearing a jeans jacket over a tight red top, blue jeans, a thick yellow belt and red leather boots with a white strip. A golden diadem, star-shaped earrings, and two steel-grey bracelets almost hidden by the jacket completed her look. While she was walking she produced from a pocket an old picture, representing a happy couple before a cinema called Talon. 

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Cleveland

Buffy was waiting outside the high school where Dawn was studying. In a few more weeks Dawn would graduate, and if she wanted, she could start in the university. Joyce had left a fund to provide for that, fortunately. Then, she saw Dawn running toward the car. 

"Have you been waiting long?"

"Considering that you should have been here fifteen minutes ago. . ." said Buffy "Come on, the plane is waiting for us in Columbus.

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Smallville

"You have set a good mark today, Arty. . ." said the coach of the Female Athletics Team.

"But. . .?" asked the young athlete, feeling the unsaid word.

"But your mother is worried about your grades, as I am. You are good in sports, but it's also important to have a good education. . ."

While the coach was talking with Artemis, the rest of the team was resting from the race, and two of them were talking. 

"Look at the coach talking with Miss Perfect Girl. . ." said one of them launching a venomous gaze toward Arty.

"Please, don't start again, Meg. I'm tired of your tirades about Arty."

"It's always easy for her. The best student, the best athlete, pretty and all of that without effort. . ." said Meg, as if she hadn't heard the other student.

The other student rolled her eyes in exasperation. Arty and Meg had been friends, but Meg Rawlings really hated being second to somebody. Meg had been the real star of the Athletics team until past year, when Arty, who had just joined the team, suddenly won in the first day of racing in front Coach Maxwell. The friendship between Meg and Arty had strained, although things seemed to go better of late, until two weeks ago. . . Now, Meg was on the brink of being expelled of the team.

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The Talon

Lana Lang was placing a "Help Wanted" sign in the door of the Talon when somebody tapped her shoulder.

"Yes?"

"Ah . . . I'm looking for the manager of the Talon."

"I am Lana Lang, manager and co-owner of the Talon."

"Oh, sorry. You are so young. . ."

"Don't worry, I'm used to that. Well, what do you want?"

"I don't know if you could help me, but I'm trying to find a woman that worked here fifteen or twenty years ago, Artemis. . ."

"Oh, Artemis Stevens. Yes, I remember her. She now runs a small gymnasium in the edge of the town, but on Fridays she goes to Metropolis, to give a self-defense course, and usually returns very late. Exactly. why are you trying to find her?"

"She is my aunt. She and my mom had a big argument sixteen or seventeen years ago and we haven't had news from her since then."

"Oh, sorry. Well, then, I can tell you that you have a cousin, Artemis, or as she prefers to be called, Arty. But now she is training with the Smallvile High Female Athletics Team for the County Athletics Championship, this Sunday, during the Crow Festival, this weekend."

The woman thought for a moment and then said:

"Looks like I'm going to stay here longer than I thought." she commented, and then looked at the sign. "Exactly, what kind of help do you need?"

"With the Festival and the Championship, I'm going to need help with this. I have already enlisted the help of several of my friends for the cinema, and the kitchen, but I need somebody tending the tables."

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A private airfield near Columbus

When Buffy and Dawn boarded the plane they had a pleasant surprise, as Willow and Xander were waiting inside. After a few minutes they were talking as the old friends that they were.

"So, what are you doing here?" asked Buffy "Giles told me that the plane was here to leave one of the Slayers."

"Faith and Samantha, the Slayer that you discovered in Miami on Christmas, had just left. We helped them in N.Y., and Giles thought that you would be glad to have our help, just like the old days." said Xander 

Dawn had started to draw in a big notebook that she reserved for that use. Willow peeked and saw what resembled a woman in some type of superhero uniform.

"You draw quite well, Dawn. You should try to go professional."

"That is what Samuel said." answered Dawn, still drawing, with a sad tone.

"Your boyfriend?"

"No, a guy that I met in a high school club. I discovered almost too late that the head of the club was a demon that wanted to use my blood to become a Hell God. Buffy saved me, but the other people in the club. . ." she shuddered, remembering the bloody place.

"Oh, sorry." said Willow. 

"It's fine, Wills, but can you leave me alone, please? I draw better without a witch looking over my shoulder."

Willow left without saying a word.

"So, Buffy, tell me, how is the life in Cleveland?" was asking Xander

"It's different, but the same. The local people are even more clueless about the supernatural than in Sunnydale, although I have met some interesting people," said Buffy "Speaking of that, Willow, there is a wizard that wants to talk with you, a guy called Kent Nelson."

"Kent Nelson? Are you sure of that?" asked Willow.

"Yeah, why?"

"There was a wizard in the '40s that helped the Allies to counter the pro-axis sorcerors. His name was Kent Nelson. I have seen the files of the Watchers on him."

"Then, this couldn`t be the same guy, he seemed to be on his thirties. He gave me this, by the way." said Buffy, showing a golden egyptian ankh that she was wearing in a necklace.

"Speaking of the files, Giles sent this for you." said Xander, giving to Buffy a thick folder, labeled "Smallville". "I have leafed through it, and if that town doesn't have a Hellmouth, I'll eat my crystal eye."

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Smallville. A few hours later. . .

Arty Stevens crossed the line on the first place, and Meg just after her. All the girls of the team went to congratulate her, except Meg.

"I'm going to be the champion, Stevens. I swear that I'll win." she said gritting her teeth, while the green stones of her earrings glowed for a moment.

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Metropolis

"Mrs. Stevens?." asked the policewoman to one of the other woman in the gymnasium.

"Yes?" said the black-haired woman who was resting in a seat. She had just given her first class of the day, and she had three more waiting.

"I'm Maggie Sawyer. I have been watching the class and I have some questions for you." said the policewoman

"Shoot." said Artemis Stevens without moving from her relaxed posture.

"Never say that to a police officer." said Maggie Sawyer, chuckling. "He or she could take it literally. Well, three days ago we were called because there was a brawl in an alley. When we arrived, we found several gang members that had received a severe beating . . ."

"And . . .?" asked Artemis, not very interested about what the policewoman was saying.

"Apparently they tried to attack a woman, and the woman was too much for them. The description of the woman wasn't very precise, young, black-haired, fair-skinned and blue-eyed, but a few of them said that she wore a pair of bracelets, whose description fits the one that you have."

Now Sawyer had the full attention of Mrs. Stevens

"Are you saying that I. . .?"

"No, I checked, and when all of that happened you were in your gymnasium in Smallville. But. . ."

"You are curious." she sighed and continued "Ok, it's a religious thing. I was part of a close-knit group of women that. . . Well, I could say that we were a feminist and all-female Wiccan circle. We wore these bracelets as a symbol that we weren't going to be slaves to men, and we took pride in physical and mental excellence. But I left the community after. . ."

". . .you fell in love with a man." said Sawyer, who had seen this coming. "Somehow I was imagining that. Everybody has biases, one way or another."

"I suppose that you are right." said Artemis with a weak smile. "He was a pilot whose plane had crashed in our territory, and I was chosen to get him back to the Patriarch World, that is how we called the world outside our community. I delayed my return several times, and when I finally came back, we had a terrible discussion, and I was expelled."

"Interesting. Do you think that this woman could have been sent after you?"

"I don't think so." said Mrs. Stevens, but she was in doubt.

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Smallville

Meg Rawlings smiled when she saw that her mother and her stepfather were snoring in the kitchen table, accompanied by several empty whisky bottles. Usually this same scene, repeated almost each Friday or Saturday, infuriated her, but just now she needed just that. Taking care to be quiet, she opened the garage door, and picked her bike. She started to guide the vehicle through the long path that descended from her house toward a dirt road. Once there, she drove toward the house where Professor Hamilton had lived until his mysterious disappearance.

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The Talon

Lex Luthor entered the Talon, sat in the bar, looked around and said to Lana Lang.

"I see that you already have the help that you wanted." he said pointing to the black-haired waitress

"Yeah, she's pretty good in this, considering that she's never worked as a waitress."

As if she knew that they were talking about her, the woman came to the bar.

"Not very crowded just now, eh?"

"Wait a few hours." said Lana, chuckling. "This is. . ."

"Hello, I'm Lex Luthor, co-owner of the Talon. And you are. . .?" said Lex.

"Diana Prince." answered the young woman.

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TO BE CONTINUED...


	3. Chapter 2

**Smallville: Amazons & Slayers**

_by Antonio Cabañas_

**Chapter 2****Disclaimer:** Smallville, Superman, Wonder Woman and all related characters are trademarks of DC Comics, which is owned by Warner Bros. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters were created and are owned by Joss Whedon.  
  
**E-mail:** borg31de777yahoo.es.   
  
**Spoilers:** Smallville second season until "Rosetta", and the entire Buffy the Vampire Slayer series  
  
I wish to thank my beta-reader Carycomix for his help and support  
  
**Answer to reviewers:**  
  
**Bunny-Butler:** Well, the name is Artemis Stevens, they are mother and daughter, and the daughter prefers to be called Arty. Both comes from my own imagination (well, not quite, there was a rogue amazon called Artemis in Wonder Woman comic-books, but she is unlike any of the Artemis Stevens). I don't need to say who is Diana Prince (although in this story, she isn't yet, she is only scouting for the mission that she will start in a few years, not too long after Clark becomes Superman).

**King Henry the V: **Maybe, but I never go to the easy way

**Summary:** A mysterious woman comes to Smallville, jealousies in the Smallville High Athletic Team take a odd turn, a mystery from the past reappears and Clark become involved in all of that.

* * *

_The Talon_

"Hello, I'm Lex Luthor, co-owner of the Talon. And you are...? " said Lex.  
  
"Diana Prince. " answered the young woman.  
  
"A beautiful name for a beautiful woman. " commented Lex in a flattering tone. "Ah, but I am engaged, miss Prince. "  
  
"A natural born flatterer, I see. " answered Diana, smiling  
  
"Diana came here to find a relative that worked in the Talon some years ago. " said Lana  
  
"An aunt, to be precise. But Lana said me that on Fridays she returns very late, so until tomorrow... And I have to find a place to stay tonight. "  
  
"I'd offer my house, but Helen, my fiancée, wouldn't be very pleased. "  
  
"And don't forget Lionel. " commented Lana  
  
"My father is now in Coast City, making a business deal with Ferris Aircraft. "  
  
"Hello. " said Clark who had just arrived. " I see that you have found the waitress that you needed. "  
  
"Diana, this is my friend Clark Kent. Clark, this is Diana Prince. She is going to help me with the Talon this weekend. "  
  
Clark offered his hand, and Diana shook it.  
  
"Curious, a friend of my mother wears the same type of bracelets. " said Clark when he saw Diana's wrists.  
  
"If she is Artemis Stevens, she is the aunt that I have come to find. "  
  
"Oh. "   
  
"Clark, Diana needs a place to stay tonight. " said Lana.   
  
"We have a guestroom, if you don't mind waking up at dawn. "_Buffy's plane  
_"I just can't believe it! And nobody has noticed all of that? It's crazy! " said Buffy when she finished reading the files that the Watchers had about Smallville.  
  
"Said by the Vampire Slayer, who lived more than seven years in a city built over the gates of hell, and whose sister is in reality a mystical energy source known as the Key. Ah, she loved an ensouled vampire, and her best friend is a lesbian witch who, before outing, dated a werewolf, and was on the brink of destroying the world almost two years ago. " said Dawn  
  
"Ok, ok. I shouldn't have said that. " said Buffy, smiling " Have you seen all of this? I agree with Xander, I think that in Smallville has a helluva Hellmouth "  
  
"I don't think so, Buffy. If you have read the files, at least the ones that pre-date the destruction of the Council, you would have noticed that most of the incidents seem to be connected to the green crystals that came in the meteor storm. " said Willow. "I have used my laptop to search about those crystals, and I have found very few things. Apparently the crystals are radioactive..." seeing the look of alarm in the eyes of the others, she quickly explained. "The radiation level is very low, and seems mostly harmless, at least to human beings. "  
  
"But with some of the things that ocurred in that town, even Sunnydale would have appeared on the national TV. "  
  
"Maybe, but I would bet that some of the officials in town are filling their pockets with Luthorcorp money. Apparently Luthorcorp has done a lot of secret research about the crystals, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of that research was made in the pesticide plant. One report mentions that a former employee of that plant said that there was some mysterious 'level 3', connected to some research with the meteorites. "  
  
"Hey! Wait a minute!. Now that I thought about it, I remember that Smallville made the news one time. Didn't a former clerk of that plant take some hostages a year ago? "  
  
"He was the employee that I mentioned earlier. The report was being processed when the Council blew up, and after the report about the employee, there are only some extracts from the press, telling the conclusion of the story. "_Metropolis  
_"Hello, John. How is the business going? " asked Maggie sawyer to her old friend, an ex-cop that now worked as a P.I.   
  
"Quiet, Maggie. But fortunately I'm not a man given to extravagant expenses. " answered the detective.  
  
Maggie nodded, remembering the stark flat that he owned, and that she had visited when she tried to convince him to stay in the Police. If any man was able to live with the meager pay that the Metropolis cops had, that was her friend.  
  
"John, did you hear about the incident last week? The woman beating a gang? "  
  
"Yes. A very odd case. "  
  
"I have received some info that suggests that the woman could be part of a sect, searching for a member that abandoned the cult. My chief have passed a note to the sheriff 's office in the town where the woman lives, but I'm worried. "  
  
"And you want me to watch the woman discreetly. "  
  
"Bingo! The woman is Artemis Stevens, and lives in Smallville. "  
  
"Smallville, do you say? I was there fifteen years ago, helping clean up after the meteor storm." he paused for a moment. "I'll help you.""  
  
"Thanks, John" said Maggie Sawyer. "Well, goodbye, John."  
  
"Bye, Maggie."  
  
Sawyer was passing besides the door when she turned and said:  
  
"John, why 'Manhunter' instead of 'P. I.' on the door? "  
  
For the first time, John smiled. It was a sad smile, however.  
  
"Something from my past, Maggie. "_Smallville  
_Meg Rawlings had been rummaging through the debris-filled room that had once been Dr. Hamilton's lab for almost an hour and she hadn't found what she was searching. She had found several small vials filled with a greenish liquid in a drawer of a desk, and a lot of broken lab equipment, but that was all. She closed her eyes, trying to remember exactly what had happened that day, not too long before the disappearance of Dr. Hamilton.   
  
Hamilton had been earning a few bucks giving science classes to some of the high school students, Meg Rawlings and Arty Stevens between them. One day, she had come earlier than usual, and was sneaking through Hamilton's house when she saw him opening a portable safe and placing a medicine flask inside. The medicine was the reason why she was there, as she had recognized the medicine that Arty's father had been taking them after that damned accident at the Luthor plant. What interested her was that the medicine contained steroids. She would slide the flask into Arty's sports bag, and the rest would be easy, a word to the right person and the career of Arty Stevens in Athletics would be finished. Now, if she could remember where Hamilton had put the safe... There! she thought, suddenly remembering. After cleaning the debris, she found the black safe, which had been covered by the debris produced by the fall of part of the roof.   
  
She didn't know that Hamilton also kept inside the hermetic safe several bottles of dangerous chemical substances, and with the fall, the bottles had broken, the substances had mixed and reacted, consuming the oxygen inside and forming a mass of gas that only needed a bit of oxygen to explode. When Meg Rawlings opened the safe, the explosion sent her against the nearby desk that she had examined before, hitting her head and leaving her unconscious. From one of the drawers of the desk small drops of a greenish liquid began to fall over her head, including the wound._After nightfall...  
  
On a Kansas road_   
  
After they landed, in another private airfield near Topeka, they rented a car and took the road to Smallville. Using her cellphone, Willow learned that, due to a festival this weekend, there wasn't a vacancy left at any of the motels of the town. Finally, one of the managers said that his brother had a summer residence in Smallville, and that he could rent it to them, if they were so desperate as they seemed. Lacking any other option they accepted.

_Smallville  
_

Lex had agreed to give Diana and Clark a lift to the Kent's farm.  
  
"Where did you say that you were from? " asked Lex to Diana, in an offhand tone.  
  
"I haven't said it. " answered Diana. "The truth is that just now, I'm from nowhere. Last week I was in Metropolis, after being some time in Gateway City, and before that I was in Boston. "  
  
"I could have sworn that you were European, judging by your accent. " commented Lex, hitting the brake as they had arrived at the front gate of the Kent farm.  
  
"Well, my mother and a lot of the people with whom I grew up were from Greece. " said Diana, while stepping out of the car.  
  
"Must be that. " said Lex, clearly unconvinced. "See you tomorrow. " he said while maneuvering the car to get it back to the road.  
  
"Is your friend always so inquisitive? " asked Diana to Clark, while walking to his home.  
  
"Lex can't stand an unsolved mystery. " said Clark, chuckling.  
  
"You seem to speak from your own experience. "  
  
"We met when his car lost control and fell in the river, and I rescued him. Lex became obsessed with the accident for a long time. "  
  
In the car Lex was already marking a number on his cell phone.  
  
"Sam?... It's me, Lex... Yes, the usual fees... I want you to run a background check on a woman called Diana Prince... No, I don't know where she is from, but apparently last week she was in Metropolis, and before that in Gateway and Boston... No, I don't know if the data is real... Her description? Caucasian, black straight hair, blue eyes, age around twenty, five-foot-ten in height... Oh! I almost forgot. She speaks English with a European accent and had mentioned that her mother was Greek... If you can have something tomorrow morning, you'll have a few bucks extra in your account... Bye. "_Metropolis  
_Artemis Stevens concluded her last self-defense class of the day. It hadn't been a great day for her pupils, as the news that the policewoman had brought had distracted her all that evening. Even if she hadn't wanted to reveal it to Sawyer, she was troubled by the possibility that her sisters, her former sisters she corrected herself, could have sent somebody after her. There had been very harsh words almost twenty years ago...   
  
She finally decided to call home, as Arty would have already returned from her training in the athletic team. That way she could have some peace._Smallville  
_Arty Stevens was in the shower when the phone rang. After hurrying with the towel hastily wrapped around, she managed to answer when her mother was about to hang it.  
  
"Stevens resi.. Ah, hello, mom... I have beaten my best mark today... Yes, mom, the coach spoke to me about that, and I'm going to work in my grades... No, nobody had come asking for you... Ok, if somebody that I don't know comes I'll tell whoever it is that you aren't at home and if she can wait until tomorrow... No, I'm going to bed early, tomorrow we have training early in the morning... Yes, the coach is still of the opinion that 'you never train enough'... Bye, mom. "_A Smallville motel   
_"Yes? " said the gruff-looking man behind the reception desk of the motel. He squinted his myopic eyes at the dark-haired man that had just appeared.  
  
"I'm Kevin Kilmer. I reserved a room for this week. "  
  
"One moment, please. " the man checked the reservation book, nodded, took a key and tossed it to the man in dark clothes. "Room 27. "  
  
"Thanks. " answered the man while the receptionist went back to his TV._Some hours later...  
_Artemis Stevens paid the taxi driver that had carried her back to Smallville, as she had never learned to drive, and walked to the door of her home. She was thinking while entering the house, since the death of her husband, a few years ago, she had tried to keep herself busy hence her work at the gym and the self-defense class that she gave in Metropolis. But sometimes she missed her former life, before meeting a handsome Navy pilot. She dismissed that train of thought, as she knew where it would end, and went to the bedroom of her daughter.  
  
Arty was sleeping, and she looked like an image of innocence when she was in the arms of Morpheus. Obeying an impulse she went besides the bed and kissed her daughter on the forehead.  
  
"Sleep well, my little princess. " she said as she retired from the room.  
  
She went to the bedroom that she had shared with her husband and sat on the bed. She was going to change into her nightgown when she had an idea. Atop the bedspread she had a small trunk that hadn't been opened in almost twenty years. She put it over the bed and took a small key that she always had on her keyring and opened it. Inside it were two bracelets very similar to the ones that she wore around her wrists. 'Tomorrow, when she gets back from the training I'll tell her all the truth about us.' she thought._A house in Smallville, Buffy's temporary HQ  
_It was clear that the house had been empty since the last summer, as they had to spend hours cleaning it. After this, they agreed to wait until the next day, because even Buffy was tired. Buffy, Dawn and Willow would each sleep in one of the three unpstairs bedse, and Xander would sleep on the sofa._Kent's farm  
_Martha Kent was tired of staring at the ceiling or the walls, as she seemed unable to sleep that night. She got up and went to the kitchen, where she almost collided with their guest.   
  
"What are you doing awake so late? "  
  
"Sorry, Mrs. Kent... Err, I'm a wicca, you see, and this night is full moon..."  
  
"Ah, you need to do some ritual. And why haven't you said it openly, instead of trying to do it as a burglar in the night?. "  
  
"I suppose that I think that you weren't going to understand it, sorry. I have all that I need for the ritual, if you could tell me a place where I could have a good view of the moon. "  
  
"Go behind the barn. It's the better place for that. "  
  
"Thank you very much, Mrs. Kent "  
  
Martha shook her head in amazement while the young woman exited the building.   
  
Diana completed the ritual in honor of Selene and blew out the candles that she had used. She looked around, and saw that there were no lights on in the farmhouse. Then from the same bag where she had kept the material for the ritual she produced a cellphone and called to a number in the other end. When a woman answered in the other end, they spoke in a language that only some scholars would have understood._Hamilton's lab  
_At Hamilton's lab, Meg Rawlings moaned and opened her eyes. Eyes which had gone from deep brown to a unearthly bright green.

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED..... **


	4. Chapter 3

Smallville: Amazons & Slayers by Antonio Cabañas  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Disclaimer: Smallville, Superman, Wonder Woman and all related characters are trademarks of DC Comics, which is owned by Warner Bros. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters were created and are owned by Joss Whedon.  
  
E-mail: borg31de777yahoo.es.   
  
Spoilers: Smallville second season until "Rosetta" and the entire Buffy the Vampire Slayer series  
  
I wish to thank my beta-reader Carycomix for his help and support  
  
Answer to reviewers:  
  
Please, review!!!!  
  
Summary: A mysterious woman comes to Smallville, jealousies in the Smallville High Athletic Team take a odd turn, a mystery from the past reappears and Clark become involved in all of that.  
  
A motel near Smallville  
  
Kevin Kilmer was sitting before the table of the room where he was going to stay that night. He had placed a small trunk over the table, and opened it. Inside, there was a mirror and several drawers full with make-up and prosthetics of every kind. He began to apply the prosthetics and the make-up over his face   
  
Half an hour later he was almost unrecognizable, thanks to the prosthetics and the make-up. The only things that remained were his lifeless eyes.  
  
Scoobies HQ  
  
Buffy was not sleeping well. She was moving in the bed, muttering half-formed words, and the ankh that hung around her neck was glowing in the dark.  
  
Next Day...  
  
Artemis Stevens home  
  
"After you get home from school, we have to talk." said Artemis Stevens to her daughter, who almost choked with the breakfast upon hearing that.  
  
"I haven't done anything!" protested the young athlete.  
  
"It's not what you are thinking, Artemis." said her mother, chuckling "There are some things that, now that you are grown enough, you must know about me, your father, and my... well, let's call them my family."  
  
"What kind of things?" asked Arty, interested.  
  
"Things that would require hours to explain." said Artemis, pointing to the clock. "And Jeanne is going to be here soon to drive you to practice."  
  
Meg Rawlings home  
  
Meg Rawlings awoke in her bed, without the faintest notion of how she had gotten there. The last thing that she remembered was the explosion, and after that... nothing. Then she noticed the hour... God! She was almost late for practice! She descended the stairs in seconds, made a quick and light breakfast, dressed and took the bicycle that she had chained in the backyard.   
  
Scoobies temporary HQ  
  
"What we are going to do today?" asked Dawn.  
  
"What we do everyday, Pinky, try to take over the world!" said Xander on his best faked Brain voice.  
  
"Ha, ha. Very funny, Xander." said Buffy, grumpily, she hadn't slept well. "I think that our first priority should be locating the house where Donna Falcon, the Slayer of then, fought Rawlings."  
  
"That's going to be difficult. I awoke early and used my laptop to search a bit about the city. The neighborhood where the house was located was almost destroyed by the meteor storm and the subsequent fire, and suffered a heavy urban renewal afterwards. We are going to need a modern map, and a map of the time of the meteor storm."  
  
"Easy, we go to the Town Archives..."  
  
"Today is Saturday, and they are going to close this weekend. That damned festival! But not all is lost, I telephoned a student that works in the High School newspaper and she says that she can obtain one..."  
  
"And she gets what, in exchange?" asked Buffy, suspicious.  
  
"Well, I said to her that I was an archeology student searching the remains of the old mansion, because it was supposedly built over indian relics. So she wants to go with us."  
  
"Wonderful, a meddlesome journalist." growled Buffy.  
  
Outskirts of Smallville  
  
Samuel Dartmouth knocked on the front door of his next door neighbor Tina Maxwell, the coach of the Athletics Team. Her car was still there, and he knew that the team had practice this morning. Nobody answered, and he grew worried, it wasn't very characteristic of Tina to wake so late. He thought of calling the sheriff, but maybe she was only sleeping late.   
  
Tina had given him a key if some emergency happened. He decided that this qualified as an emergency, and opened the door of the house. He looked all over the ground floor, noticing that the back door was open, but nothing seemed to be missing.   
  
"Tina! Are you here?" he shouted   
  
Nobody answered, and he grew even more worried. He dared to go to the first floor and through the open door of Tina's bedroom saw her, in the middle of a small pool of blood.  
  
Kent's farm  
  
"What do you want for breakfast, Diana?" asked Martha to the raven-haired young woman.  
  
"Milk and a fruit, please." Martha threw an orange to Diana, and she began to peel the fruit while Martha filled a glass of milk. "Thanks, I have always liked light breakfasts. Can I help you in some way? I would like to repay your kindness."  
  
"Martha, you were going to check the plumbing, while I checked the tractor, right?" asked Jonathan.  
  
"Yes, but I don't need help, although I was under the impression that you and Clark were going to help Lana in the Talon."  
  
"Yes, but Lana is also helping out in the Festival Committee, so the Talon is going to open late this morning."  
  
"Well, you can help me with the tractor if you want. God knows that I'm going to need the help."  
  
Smallville Stadium  
  
Meg Rawlings had barely managed to come on time, only to find that Ms. Maxwell hadn't come yet. She showered, changed clothes and went to start the warming exercises with her teammates. She didn't feel as hostile as before toward Arty, and she began to ponder her actions of the day before. But the passing of the Boys Athletics Team, with their coach, Mr. Whitby, interrupted her thoughts. Where on Earth was coach Maxwell?.  
  
Soon enough she was again in the same train of thoughts. Her actions of the night before were the stupidest thing that she had ever done. Not only for the explosion (she was amazed to have escaped totally undamaged), or the hare-brained plan that she had devised to foil Arty's foreseeable victory, but for everything. Now that her thoughts weren't clouded by rage, as happened almost every time that she was training with Arty, she realized that she had become obsessed with getting even with Arty for... for what? For being a better runner than she was? She began to remember when the problems between them had started...   
  
Smallville Stadium. Almost a year before.  
  
"Where is Artemis Stevens?" asked Tina Maxwell, the newly hired trainer of the Smallville High Girls Track Team.  
  
"She is in the showers, Ms. Maxwell" said Meg Rawlings, and began to elaborate. "She had arrived late, because..."  
  
"Ah, here she comes." interrupted Ms. Maxwell.  
  
"I'm sorry, Ms. Maxwell. Last night I had horrible nightmares and..."  
  
"I hope that this won't become an habit, miss Stevens. Now join your teammates."  
  
Ms. Maxwell divided the students in groups. Meg, Arty and two other girls were the specialists in 1500, and after warming up a bit, Ms. Maxwell decided to hold a race to see how good were each girl was...  
  
The Present  
  
The arrival of the sheriff's caro snapped Meg out of her memories. Meg observed that the director had come with the sheriff, and signaled them to meet with them.  
  
"Ms. Maxwell is in the hospital, and her condition is critical. The doctor isn't sure if she is going to make it." he said. "So, this morning practice is suspended, but this afternoon, you have to come to a training session with Mr. Whitby. Please, make your best effort, I'm sure that Ms. Maxwell would want it."  
  
Kent farm  
  
Jonathan Kent looked up from the engine of the tractor as he said:  
  
"Clark, where is the small wrench? I can't find it."  
  
"Mom took it." said Clark. "She was gong to check the plumbing, do you remember?"  
  
"Oh, sorry. Please, Clark, go to see if your mother has finished. I'm going to see if there's a spare one in my old toolbox."  
  
"It should be up there." said Clark, pointing to the upper floor of the barn.  
  
"In your 'fortress of solitude'?"  
  
"No, I think that is with grandpa's old tools." answered Clark from the door.  
  
Jonathan took a ladder and put it where he could reach the place that Clark had told him.   
  
"Diana, can you hold the ladder? It trembles like a small tree in a hurricane when anybody is climbing it." asked Jonathan to Diana.  
  
While Jonathan climbed the rungs, he noticed that barely trembled. 'This girl is stronger than she looks', he thought.  
  
When he was about to reach the upper level, he slipped off and fell.  
  
When Clark came, alarmed by the scream of his father, he found Diana helping his father to stand up.  
  
"What's happening?"  
  
"I slipped off the ladder, but Diana managed to block my fall." answered Jonathan  
  
"Are you all right?" asked Clark  
  
"I think that I have some bruises. Diana?"  
  
"I'm well." she smiled "I'm tougher than I seem."  
  
"Well, I'm not going to do anything more with the tractor this morning. Has your mother finished with the plumbing?"  
  
"Yes, I was talking to her when I heard you scream."   
  
Diana frowned when she heard that.  
  
"Why don't we go to the Talon? Martha has to go this morning to Smallville anyway." proposed Jonathan  
  
"All right." said Diana.  
  
"Ok." said Clark.  
  
They were walking out when Jonathan said:  
  
"Clark, can you stay a moment, please?"  
  
Diana continued her way out while Clark came back.  
  
"Clark, you should keep an eye on her."  
  
"Why, dad?"  
  
"I can still recognize when somebody fakes a fall, son. She is much stronger than she looks, maybe as strong as you."  
  
"Do you think that she can be from...?"  
  
"I don't have any idea."  
  
Leaning against the door of the barn, Diana had been listening to the whole exchange.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED... 


	5. Chapter 4

Smallville: Amazons & Slayers by Antonio Cabañas  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Disclaimer: Smallville, Superman, Wonder Woman and all related characters are trademarks of DC Comics, which is owned by Warner Bros. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters were created and are owned by Joss Whedon.  
  
E-mail: borg31de777yahoo.es.   
  
Spoilers: Smallville second season until "Rosetta" and the entire Buffy the Vampire Slayer series  
  
I wish to thank my beta-reader Carycomix for his help and support  
  
Answer to reviewers:  
  
Please, review!!!!  
  
Summary: A mysterious woman comes to Smallville, jealousies in the Smallville High Athletic Team take a odd turn, a mystery from the past reappears and Clark become involved in all of that.  
  
Luthor Mansion  
  
Lex Luthor was sitting at his desk reviewing some documents when the computer chimed, announcing that he had received mail. After ending with the document, he proceeded to read the message.  
  
'As always, Sam is worth his weight in gold.' thought Lex.   
  
As he had asked, the preliminary results of the background check in Diana Prince were on his desk that morning, and good old Sam had included a note saying that he hoped to have a more complete report that evening.  
  
But Lex didn't know that he wasn't the only Luthor that had Sam on his payroll. At that same moment Lionel Luthor, who was coming back from Coast City, was reading the same report.  
  
Artemis Gym  
  
Artemis Stevens, after taking her usual morning jog, had arrived at work. While she was opening the door, she heard a group of young people walking behind her, all of them with southern californian accents.   
  
"Tourists" she thought.  
  
On the other side of the streets a man was watching her.  
  
"What a lovely town." grumbled Buffy sarcastically.  
  
"You are quite grumpy this morning." commented Dawn.  
  
"With a night like last night, you would be like that this morning."  
  
"You ate too much last night..."  
  
"Be serious, Xander." said Buffy "It was only that every time that I closed my eyes, I had the weirdest dreams."  
  
"Weird dreams? Like the ones that you have whenever something major is about to happen?"  
  
"Slayer-dreams, you mean? Hardly. The dreams weren't cryptic, they were totally nonsenc.. nonseni..."  
  
"Nonsensical?"  
  
"Yeah, nonsensical. Although this..." she pointed to the ankh hanging from her neck "... appeared almost constantly."  
  
"Maybe that Nelson guy is trying to contact you... or maybe not." said Willow "Did Nelson tell why he gave you the ankh?"  
  
"Something about a need for protection when the time comes."  
  
"Curious."  
  
A tower near Salem, Mass.  
  
"The witch suspect something." said teh woman, who had been observing everything.  
  
"Yes, but she isn't going to take measures yet." answered the man "The last son, the Slayer and the others are already there"  
  
"Yes, but what is needed for the Slayer to do maybe is..."  
  
"Too much? I don't think so. She sacrificed herself for her sister, and if it's necessary she will do so again."  
  
"I defer to your judgement." then she thought for a moment and chuckled "Do you think that they will believe that all of this is a coincidence?"  
  
"I think that they will rather blame the workings of fate, dear Inza"  
  
Smallville Stadium  
  
Arty had changed to her normal clothes and was crossing to the door of the locker room when she saw Meg Rawlings waiting.  
  
'Please, not again' she thought, remembering the incident from the last week. But then she noticed how Meg seemed embarrased, and that was odd.  
  
"Arty, I... I have made a real ass of myself these last couple of weeks. I want to... I want to apologize for that." she said, on the verge of tears.  
  
Arty was speechless. She had known Meg for years and it simply wasn't in her nature to apologize for anything. As if reading her mind, Meg smiled sadly.  
  
"Not very much like myself, eh? Yesterday I did a very stupid thing, trying to find a way to end your career as an athlete, and well, that made me think about what a snotty bitch I had become."  
  
Arty thought for a moment, considering to give Meg a taste of her own medicine. But she decided against it. It wasn't really in her own character to behave like that. So, after taking a deep breath she said:  
  
"Meg, this is too deep to discuss here. Just now I was going to the Talon, let's talk about it on the way."   
  
Smallville  
  
'Kevin Kilmer' was walking through the streets of the town, looking around, when he bumped into a girl that had just turned a corner. The girl was carrying a bundle, which fell on to the pavement, partially open.  
  
"Sorry, I wasn't looking ahead" said 'Kevin'  
  
"It's nothing, Mister...."  
  
"Kilmer, Kevin Kilmer. I'm a journalist from the Gotham Gazette."  
  
"I'm Lana Lang." she answered, offering her hand "What are you doing in Smallville? Something about the meteors?."  
  
'Kilmer' laughed and said.  
  
"No, it has nothing to do with the meteors. Most newspapers and TV networks regard what occurred here in the same category of Rosswell's UFO and the Men in Black, that is, tabloid fodder."  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"I asked."  
  
"So what are you doing here?"  
  
"I pissed off my editor and he sent me to cover the Crows Festival."  
  
Lana smiled.  
  
"I have been helping out the Festival Committee. If you help me with these items..." said, pointing to the bundle "I can give you some info."   
  
Inside the bundle there was a big green banner with purple lettering.  
  
"Garish, isn't it?" she said, chuckling while they bundled the banner again "It's a banner for the Festival of the Crows. The member of the Comittee that ordered a hundred of them must be color-blind"   
  
Artemis Gym  
  
Artemis Stevens yawned. The decision to open that morning had been an error, as nobody had come. She was giving serious thought about closing the gym early and spending the rest of the morning shopping. Just then, the phone rang.  
  
"Artemis Gym... What? Miss Maxwell? Are you going to see her in the hospital?... Ah, the hopital only allow afternoon visits... You and Meg have declared a truce? I'm glad to hear that... The Talon, are you saying?... The truth it's dead quiet, right now. Ok, I'll call Martha, and I'll see if she can take you and me back home... Bye, Arty."  
  
A few minutes later, after changing clothes, and closing the door she began to walk toward the Talon. While she fumbled with her cellphone, she failed to notice the man that was following her.  
  
Salem Tower  
  
"They are converging earlier that we expected." said the woman called Inza.  
  
"Odd. But that can work in our favor." answered the man  
  
Smallville  
  
Diana had asked Martha to stop at Artemis Gym on the way to the Talon. But the Gym was closed, so they proceeded to the Talon. As they neared their destination, just before turning a corner, Clark saw Meg Rawlings talking with another girl that he couldn't see well.  
  
"Clark!" said Arty, but Martha's pick-up had already turned a corner "Damn! I wanted to ask him something"  
  
"I have heard that she is helping Lana in the Talon..."  
  
"Oh, I don't know how I could have forgotten that, having gotten used to seeing how Clark looks at Lana." she said with a expression of frustation. "I mean that I thought that he had finally out-grown his infatuation with Lana when I saw him and Chloe together at the ball last year, but after that..."  
  
They gossiped a lot about Clark, Lana and Chloe at the beginning, deriving into the rest of the high school, and then finally:  
  
"...I still can't believe how you won that race. I mean, you were the last by a good margin, and suddenly you began to pass everyone of us almost without sweating."  
  
"I can't explain it either, Meg. For a split second I felt like my body was on fire, and a moment later I was nearing Karen Braverman." said Arty. "The oddest thing was that I felt as if I could run keeping that rhythm forever. And I was running faster than I had ever run."  
  
"That's odd."  
  
"Indeed."  
  
On the floor of an empty bungalow some cracks began to appear.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED... 


	6. Chapter 5

Smallville: Amazons & Slayers by Antonio Cabañas  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Disclaimer: Smallville, Superman, Wonder Woman and all related characters are trademarks of DC Comics, which is owned by Warner Bros. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters were created and are owned by Joss Whedon.  
  
E-mail: borg31de777yahoo.es.   
  
Spoilers: Smallville second season until "Rosetta" and the entire Buffy the Vampire Slayer series  
  
I wish to thank my beta-reader Carycomix for his help and support  
  
Answer to reviewers:

Majin Gojira: I'll try in next installments as I can, although the problem is that I write well in advance from what I posted (I have finished chapter 6 and writing the seventh).

Sean Malloy-1: Here is.  
  
Summary: A mysterious woman comes to Smallville, jealousies in the Smallville High Athletic Team take a odd turn, a mystery from the past reappears and Clark become involved in all of that.  
  
Smallville  
  
Martha had just turned a corner when her cellphone rang. The call came from Artemis Stevens, her old friend. Martha activated the hands-free mode and answered.  
  
"Hello, Artemis. How are you?"  
  
"I'm fine thanks, but listen, the coach of Arty's track team has been attacked in her own house..."  
  
"Tina Maxwell? But who could...?"  
  
"I have no idea, but..."  
  
"Do you want a lift to the hospital this afternoon?" said Martha, who knew the inability of her friend to learn to drive.  
  
"Thanks, Martha. Can you shuttle us home later? I have closed the gym, and I agreed to meet Arty in the Talon."  
  
"Oh, well. I only have to do some deliveries this morning" Martha said, looking interrogatively to Diana.  
  
Understanding what Martha wanted to know, Diana whispered:  
  
"I want to give them a surprise."  
  
Clark frowned when he heard that, but before he could say anything, Martha was already saying goodbye through the phone.  
  
Only a block away 'Kevin' was talking to Lana about his home city.  
  
"...Gotham is not like Metropolis at all, Lana. Rather the opposite" he was explaining "Sometimes seems like the city has never left the golden age of gangsters. There is corruption everywhere, the police department, at least the parts that are still honest, is powerless to fight the organised crime, which owns half of the city. And every year is worse than the year before, the entire city is going down the drain..."  
  
"You seem to be talking from experience" commented Lana  
  
"When I was a child, my parents were killed by a mugger..." he said, his voice dark and cold.  
  
"No!" said Lana, feeling the echoes of her own tragedy.  
  
"Yes, and the killer was never identified. I was raised by an old friend of the family."  
  
"My god, I'm sorry. My parents also died..."  
  
"Yes, I know. I recognised your name, from the documents that the Gazette has about Smallville." seeing the startled expression of her face, he added "If you don't want to talk about it, I won't ask."  
  
"Do you want an interview from me?"  
  
"The answer is 'yes'. I wasn't looking for it, but the idea of an article called 'Smallville: 15 years after the meteors' or something like that was running through my head when we first met." said 'Kevin' introducing himself fully in his role as a journalist . "But I've still got ethics, Lana. If you don't want to be mentioned, you won't be mentioned."  
  
"No, it's fine. I'll help you with the article, but first, answer this question. How do you feel about your parents?"  
  
"I still miss both of them. Sometimes I go to their tomb and speak to them." said 'Kevin'. "But what I really feel is anger. Sometimes I feel that something must be done about the scum that lords over Gotham, somebody outside the system instilling fear in their hearts."   
  
"Vigilante justice isn't the way for anything."  
  
"But when the system is rotten to the core, as is almost everything in Gotham, what should people do?" said 'Kevin' while they were turning the last corner before they could see the Talon. They saw Martha parking her pick-up in that same moment.  
  
"Hello, Lana!" said Clark when he noticed Lana coming toward them "Who's your new friend?"  
  
"Clark, this is Kevin Kilmer, a journalist from the Gotham Gazette. Kevin, this is Clark Kent, a good friend." presented Lana  
  
After shaking hands, and while Lana opened the door Clark asked:  
  
"What brings a journalist from a big paper to Smallville? The meteors? Or the meteor freaks?"  
  
"Nothing like that, Mr. Kent. I royally pissed-off my editor, so I was sent to cover the festival. I was walking through the streets when I bumped into Lana. We spoke, and she has agreed to give me an interview. Not every day I bump into somebody that had been on the cover of Time."  
  
"Good, but listen, if you hurt Lana's feelings, you'll pay."  
  
"Ok." replied 'Kevin', nonchalantly.  
  
"Clark!" called Martha from the pick-up while they were about to go into the Talon.  
  
"Yes, mom?"  
  
"What's wrong with Diana?" asked Martha and then explained "I saw your expression when she spoke about giving a surprise to Artemis."  
  
"It's something that happened when dad fell off the ladder" said Clark and began to explain about their suspicions about their guest.  
  
Martha nodded thoughtfully and said:  
  
"I surprised her yesterday night sneaking out for a wiccan ceremony under the light of the full moon... at least that was what she said."  
  
"Warn Artemis about her. I'll keep an eye on Diana here."  
  
"I think that you are right."  
  
Inside the Talon, Diana was helping Lana to hang the green banners all over the place.  
  
"How well do you know Clark?" asked Diana, quite suddenly.  
  
"We were neighbors, sort of, for several years, and we are friends. Why do you want to know?"  
  
"Well, there is more to him than sees the eye."  
  
"That's very perceptive of you. Usually takes quite a long time to notice the other side of Clark."  
  
"What other side."  
  
"Sometimes he seems to be like just he looks, a good country boy, and other times, he behaves as if he had a dark secret that he has to hide from everybody."   
  
The cracks in the floor of the bungalow began to grow wider and whiffs of a green vapor began to exhale from it. Soon the growth of the cracks caused a part of the floor to fall in the circular sinkhole beneath.  
  
Suddenly Meg fell on her knees, her face pale and haggard.   
  
"Meg! What's happening?"  
  
"I don't... know. Maybe... what I said... about escaping... unharmed of all that... stupidity.. was premature." she said between gasps. She breathed heavily for a few moments, but slowly her breathing returned to normality. "God, for a moment I felt like I was dying."  
  
"You should go to the doctor, Meg. That can't be good."  
  
"When Mrs. Kent takes you and your mother home, she can leave me at the hospital."  
  
"And your parents?"  
  
"My stepfather is on the road with the truck again. And my mother works every morning cleaning rooms in a motel."  
  
"I'm curious, the Rawlings were one of the wealthiest families in town, didn't your real father leave something for your mother or you?"  
  
"Only debts for my mother. My biological father was a big spendthrift in the weeks before his death. Apparently he didn't want mom get anyething in the divorce."  
  
"Divorce? I didn't know?."  
  
"Oh, yes. He was a professor in the high school, overly fond of young girls."  
  
"Goddess!"  
  
"Goddess?"  
  
"My mother says it all the time. She was a wiccan or something like that when she was young." she explained and asked. "So your father was one of THOSE professors?"  
  
"Yes, although his last conquest was too much for him." seeing her blank expression she explained "Have you heard about the Midwest Vampiress?"  
  
"Something, but I don't remember anything beyond she was a serial killer."  
  
"My biological father was her last victim. The girl gained her nickname because she drained the blood of her victims, and left bite marks on their necks..."  
  
"Eeegh..." grimaced Arty.  
  
"Wait, I haven't finished, later she stole the corpses. The girl was a real psycho."  
  
"Did the police catch her?"  
  
"No, but everybody thinks that she was killed in the meteor shower, because she was last seen in Smallville the night before, and the killings didn't continue after then." she explained "After that, my mother had to sell our home, the car and almost everything that she owned to pay the debts."  
  
"That's why you are so desperate to become the number one of the team. It's your only way to go to the University."   
  
"But that's no excuse for what I did yesterday, I wanted to ruin..."  
  
Her last words were drowned by the noise of a golden Porsche 911 Carrera which passed to their side.  
  
Lex Luthor drove the last meters of his way to the Talon thinking about the document. "Diana Prince" didn't seem to exist, and a woman of her description was associated to a rather odd incident in Metropolis last week. He had to keep an eye on her.  
  
Smallville Hospital.  
  
"The patient is stabilised, Dr. Bryce. For a moment I thought that we were going to lose her." said the nurse.  
  
"Thanks God that we didn't. She is the coach of the Girls Track Team, and they haven't won the County Championship in about 20 years, and this year they are the favourites. If we had lost her next moment we would be at the city limits, this very moment, wearing tar-and-feathers."  
  
"I hope that you are joking." said the nurse, a bit frightened.  
  
"Of course." came the smiling reply of Dr. Helen Bryce (future Mrs. Luthor).   
  
In front of a grocery shop. Smallville.  
  
Artemis Stevens was going to enter into the shop to buy some things for lunch. She was planning to cook some typical meals from Themyscira, before revealing her heritage to Arty, when her cellphone rang.   
  
"Damned gizmos!" she cursed under her breath.  
  
The call was from Martha.  
  
'That's odd' she thought 'We had talked less than five minutes ago'  
  
"Hello, Martha, what has happened?... A niece?... Diana?!!... Yes, I know about her... Yes, she is my niece, of sorts... Look, when I decided to marry, there were some very harsh words between my family and me... Yes, that's not all. I talked with a policewoman called Maggie Sawyer yesterday... Ah, you know her... Well, if this Diana is the same woman that she mentioned, she is dangerous... No, don't call the sheriff. Is Clark already in the Talon?... He will be able to control her if it's necessary... Come on, Martha. We have been friend for years, I have been in your house many times, and I have noticed several odd things about Clark... I'm not that dumb, Martha. I simply decided that it was none of my business... No, I haven't said anything to Arty. It's your secret, and your decision... Bye."  
  
When she turned off the cellphone, she started to run toward the Talon, all thoughts of shopping gone. The man that had been following her from the Gym disappeared in an alley.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED...


	7. Chapter 6

Smallville: Amazons & Slayers by Antonio Cabañas  
  
Chapter 6  
  
Disclaimer: Smallville, Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and all related characters are trademarks of DC Comics, which is owned by Warner Bros. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters were created and are owned by Joss Whedon.  
  
E-mail: borg31de777yahoo.es.   
  
Spoilers: Smallville second season until "Rosetta" and the entire Buffy the Vampire Slayer series  
  
I wish to thank my beta-reader Carycomix for his help and support all this time, and I'm sorry that our association isn't going to continue more time. I am not going to be able to contact with my beta-reader in a while, so if somebody wants to beta-read my stories, at least until I reestablish contact with him, e-mail me to my address above.  
  
Answer to reviewers:  
  
Please, review!!!!  
  
Note: this story contains a rather pedantic explanation of the dangers of subterranean places that had been closed for many time. If you aren't interested, you can skip it without problem, as it no has great relevance to the story.  
  
Summary: A mysterious woman comes to Smallville, jealousies in the Smallville High Athletic Team take a odd turn, a mystery from the past reappears and Clark become involved in all of that.  
  
The Talon  
  
"This coffee shop seems like a good place to stay." said Buffy.  
  
"Indeed." nodded Willow, appreciating the tastefully decorated environment.  
  
A black-haired young woman, accompanied by a brunette girl, came to the table where the Scoobies had sat.   
  
"Welcome to the Talon. I'm sorry for the havoc here, but we are placing the decorations for the festival." said the brunette girl. "I'm Lana Lang, the manager. If you have some complaint, I will be by the coffee machine." and started to go there.  
  
"Well, what do you wish to have?"  
  
After ordering orange juice, Willow went to talk with the brunette girl.  
  
"Miss Lang, can I ask you something?"  
  
"Of course. What do you want to know?"  
  
"Do you know Chloe Sullivan?"  
  
"I'm her best friend."  
  
"Oh! Good, because, you'll see, I'm writing a thesis about the kawatche settlements in this area."  
  
"Are you interested in the caves?" asked Lana to the redhead witch.  
  
"Partially, although I have found, consulting old documents, that there was a subterranean chamber where the kawatche shamans performed some ceremonies. The chamber was already abandoned by the time that Smallville was founded, and a mansion was built over it. They used it as a sort of basement or something like that. The mansion was destroyed in the meteor storm, but I want to see if the chamber can be excavated. Where the mansion was, now there are a lot of bungalows, and Ms. Sullivan agreed to help me to locate it."   
  
"So that was what she was doing this morning!" exclaimed Lana "I live in a room in her home, and when I wake up this morning she was busy comparing measures on two maps."  
  
"I hope that she won't try to open the chamber. It's dangerous" said Willow and thought 'Specially if there is still a vampire there'  
  
"Why? It's cursed or something?"  
  
"No, but you can never know what has been growing in a place that has been closed for many years, apart of the possible accumulation of toxic or radioactive gases." seeing the blank face of Lana, she elaborated "There are several species of molds that grow in dark, humid places, like subterranean chambers, and whose spores are able to grow in the lungs or the trachea. In Prague, for example, two archaeologists died after opening the crypt of an ancient bohemian king. And radon, a radioactive gas of the same family of neon, argon or krypton, can filter through the rock, and being heavier than air stays low..."  
  
"Ok, Ok, I get the idea." said Lana. "I'm going to call her."  
  
When Willow got back to the table, Buffy complimented her.  
  
"Very smooth, Wills. Did you make the story of the crypt?"  
  
"No, I saw a documentary on Discovery Channel."  
  
Outskirts of Smallville  
  
'Why are you doing this, Chloe?' thought the blonde teenager as she was walking down the street 'You could have told her what you had investigated'  
  
'Because there was something that didn't sound well in her story. That's why you have left your cellphone in home.' she answered in her head 'And you know the reputation of this place, too'   
  
All the bungalows here had been built after the meteors fell. The only other building in the area was the house of Professor Hamilton. The area has good communications with Smallville and had an easy access to the highway, but currently there were only some people living here, and mostly on the edge of this area. The reasons were the odd things that happened here. Most of the people that lived here caught a weird illness whose cause was unknown, but the symptoms disappeared once that they moved away from here. One of the unexplained mysteries of Smallville. For a few years there were miscarriages of pregnancies, unexplained deaths of children and elders until...  
  
"Carney House" she said under her breath, as a chill ran through her spine, when she saw her destination.  
  
The Carney's had been one of the first families to move here. A young couple with a child, they were the first that had gotten ill. Mrs. Carney, who was pregnant, suffered a miscarriage, and after that her reason began to slip off. She talked with people that nobody could see, and suffered violent episodes. One night, the neighbours heard screams and two shots coming from the house, and they called the sheriff. When he came into the house, the scene gave him nightmares for years. The Carney boy had been bled to death from a great cut in the neck. Mrs Carney had died of a shot between her eyes, and the blood soaking her night-gown and covering her face showed that she had not only killed her own son, but that she had also drunk his blood. Mr. Carney had shot himself in his head with his revolver. This event was the last straw for most of the people in the neighborhood, as most of them had left soon after that.  
  
Chloe climbed over the fence and looked at the building, that was very clean for a building that had been several years abandoned. It seemed that even the most obnoxious graffiti painters avoided this place.  
  
The doors were closed, and the windows blocked with planks, as the glass had disappeared a long time ago. She reviewed every one of the windows, and found that one had a loose plank. She managed to remove it and loose the others, so she could sneak inside the house, squeezing through the blocked window.  
  
The building was dark, with that particular stench that closed buildings develop over time. She turned on a small flashlight and started to explore the house. On most of the wooden walls there was broken planks, following lines that continued the cracks in the floor. She followed the cracks toward their origin, a great hole in the floor. She looked inside, seeing a circular well that went down toward an ancient-looking stair, made of irregular stone steps. Some of them were covered by the debris of the floor.   
  
"So that woman was right, this chamber seems to have survived the meteor, unlike the manor and the upper basement." she said to herself.  
  
She kneeled and looked at the walls of the hole. Oddly, they seemed very smooth and shiny, almost as if they were glass. Suddenly she started to hear a rumbling sound coming from below. She stood up and started to move backwards, toward the window. When whiffs of green vapor began to appear she started to run.   
  
She was frantically loosening the planks in the window when a cloud of green vapor enveloped her. The last thing that she saw before losing consciousness were two unearthly glowing green eyes.  
  
The Talon  
  
While Dawn was asking Willow about what she should study at college, Buffy was looking through the window. She saw a golden sports car ('How garish' she thought) parking before the Talon, but her gaze was attracted by two girls that had just turned a corner. One of them was a brunette, and the other had flaming red hair. There was something about those girls...  
  
Dawn excused herself and started to go to the toilet when a bald man that had just entered bumped into her. She stumbled for a moment and would have fallen if the man hadn't caught her. Unfortunately, her backpack, that was loosely hanging from her shoulders by only one strap fell to ground, spilling part of its contents.  
  
In normal circunstances Dawn would have thanked the man and started to put her things back inside, but these weren't normal circunstances.  
  
"Thanks, mister...?"   
  
"Luthor, Lex Luthor."  
  
"Please, Mr. Luthor can you collect my things from the floor. I really, really have to go to the toilet."  
  
Lex nodded and Dawn raced to the toilet.  
  
Lex looked at the things that had fallen from the backpack with curiosity, although soon realized that they were the usual things to be found there, several notebooks, a diary, snacks, a make-up kit, lipstick and a cellphone. When he started to put the things inside, he noted that there was an ancient-looking hard-covered book inside, and other things that sounded metallic. He shrugged off the impulse to see what the book was and picked up the last thing, a notebook, from the ground.  
  
The notebook had opened with the fall, and what was in the page caught his eye. A really well made drawing of Lex favorite comic-book hero, Warrior Angel, dated around Christmas of the last year.  
  
Unable to repress his curiosity, he started to leaf through the notebook, seeing equally well made drawings of several superheroes, including Warrior Angel, the Amazon Pricess, Dark Crusader, several of the Golden Age heroes of the Justice Society, alternated with drawings of what seemed demons and vampires, dated through that year. The last drawings were three vampires, named Angel, Spike and Drusilla, and an original superheroine, a blonde-haired woman dressed in a tight-fitting, sleeveless black jumpsuit, with stylized blood-red S in the chest, wearing a utility belt full of weapons, carrying a broadsword in one hand and a crossbow in the other, named 'The Slayer'. The drawing, which was inked and colored, was dated the day before.  
  
"Having fun?" said Dawn behind Lex, startling him.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED... 


	8. Chapter 7

Smallville: Amazons & Slayers by Antonio Cabañas  
  
Chapter 7  
  
Disclaimer: Smallville, Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and all related characters are trademarks of DC Comics, which is owned by Warner Bros. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters were created and are owned by Joss Whedon.  
  
E-mail: borg31de777yahoo.es.   
  
Spoilers: Smallville second season until "Rosetta" and the entire Buffy the Vampire Slayer series  
  
Author Note 1: English is not my first language, so the story has probably a good quantity of errors. Please, be gentle in that issue, I can't reach my usual beta-reader (If anyone is interested, my e-mail is above).   
  
Author Note 2: Next chapter is going to be an interlude set several years on the future, when Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent is invited to Wayne Manor.  
  
Answer to reviewers:  
  
Papa Wheelie: the identity of the shadower is going to have to wait until the chapter after next one. And I like embroiled stories (although sometimes I can't find a way to resolve them), so that's account for the byzantinism of the story.  
  
Deadpan: thanks for your review. The "jumpiness" is an integral characteristic of my style, although I'm trying to get it under control (the first drafts of my stories are quite less organized than the final stories, and I have to do a big editing work to get a presentable story). I'm glad that you haven't lost in it.  
  
Summary: A mysterious woman comes to Smallville, jealousies in the Smallville High Athletic Team take a odd turn, a mystery from the past reappears and Clark become involved in all of that.  
  
The Talon  
  
Dawn Summers got out of the toilet quite relieved. But the relief become anger when she saw that the bald man that she had asked to collect her things from the floor was reading one of her notebooks. She approached him from behind, trying to be as silent as possible. When she was just behind him, she said coldly, refraining her anger:  
  
"Having fun?"  
  
That startled Lex, who looked back at the angry teenager and said:  
  
"Before you get mad at me, can you let me explain?"  
  
Dawn narrowed her eyes, but nodded.  
  
"When your things fell to the ground , this notebook opened by this page" said Lex, showing her the drawing of Warrior Angel that had drawn his eye earlier. "I'm a great fan of Warrior Angel, and you are a talented artist, better than some professionals. You should go professional, miss...?"  
  
"Summers, Dawn Summers." said Dawn, whose anger seemed to have dissipated a bit.  
  
"Miss Summers, I want to present you my excuses for my unforgivable actions of ..." started to say Lex, a bit theatrically.  
  
Dawn stopped him saying:  
  
"You are charming, indeed. Come on, let's forget it." said Dawn, and then asked "Do you like how I draw?"  
  
"As I said before you should go professional, miss Summers." answered Lex.  
  
"Call me Dawn."  
  
"Ok, Dawn." said Lex "You have a style reminiscent of Alex Ross, very realistic looking."  
  
"Well, the guy who teached me to draw was a talented painter, so something had to rub off. He served as model for Angel and the Dark Crusader."   
  
"I have noticed the similarity." he leafed through the notebook until he found the last drawing. "This is the best, and do you made a beautiful work with the ink and the colors."  
  
Dawn blushed.  
  
"Thank you. I used my sister as the model for that drawing, the blonde woman of that table." said Dawn, pointing to the table where the Scoobies were.  
  
Buffy hadn't noticed that Dawn hadn't still returned. Her attention was still fixed in the two girls, who were entering now the Talon.  
  
Arty and Meg sat in a table, and Arty hung her worn out backpack from the back of the chair. A black haired woman came almost instantly.  
  
"Hello, I'm Diana, what you do wish to have?."  
  
"A light cola." said Meg.  
  
Meg didn't answer, her eyes fixed in Diana's wrists.  
  
"Arty!" said Meg under his breath, giving her a subtle poke with the elbow.  
  
"Those bracelets... how have you obtained them?" said finally Arty.  
  
When Diana had heard her name, she had fixed her eyes into Arty saying, almost at the same time that Arty asked her:  
  
"Arty? Are you Artemis Stevens?"  
  
"Yes, I am. And you are...?"  
  
"I'm Diana Prince. Your mother and mine were sisters." said Diana. "I'm so glad of finally finding you."  
  
"But, how...?"  
  
"I'll explain all of you everything later, although I would like to talk with your mother also."  
  
"Mrs. Stevens in on her way here." said Meg  
  
"Excellent! So we can have a small family-get-together" said Diana smiling "But just now I have work to do, so what you do wish to have?"  
  
"Eeeeeh... lemonade" said Arty, still bewildered by the turn of events.  
  
"See you later" said Diana.  
  
"Did you know that you had a cousin?" asked Meg, in low voice.  
  
"My mother has always being very tight-lipped about her family. I have deduced that there were some problems when she married my father."  
  
"And now a cousin appears from nowhere. How Jerry Springer-ish!"  
  
"Well, my mother told me that she was going to explain everything about her past and her family this afternoon"  
  
"Hmmm, that sound interesting"  
  
"What's going on?" asked Lana to Clark in an angry tone.  
  
"What do you mean?" answered Clark  
  
"You have been looking at Diana since we opened. Your eyes seemed to be glued to her. I hope that you have a good explanation."  
  
Clark stood still for a moment, not knowing what to say.  
  
"What I was thinking!" said Lana, starting to leave.  
  
"Lana, wait!" said Clark, reaching Lana "It's not what do you think, but we cannot discuss it here, she could hear us."  
  
Still angered, but a bit intrigued she looked around, searching for somebody to stay in the bar. Diana no, she was tending the tables... where in the hell was Chloe? She hadn't answered her calls... Ah, Pete had just arrived.  
  
"...If you change your mind, I know people in several editorials." said Lex, offering her hand.  
  
"Thanks, Lex. But I think that my future pass through college, although later, who knows?" said Dawn, shaking Lex hand, and then she went back to the table.  
  
"So, who's your new boyfriend?" said Willow, teasing her.  
  
"He's not my boyfriend, Wills. He was simply praising my artwork, and he is too old for me, and he is engaged."  
  
"Do you know who was that guy?" said Xander.  
  
"He said that his name was Lex Luthor, why?"  
  
"Have you heard of Luthorcorp?" answered Xander.  
  
"He is THAT Lex Luthor?"  
  
"Yes." answered Xander "Lex Luthor was one of Anya idols, young, handsome and with tons of money. And for what she said, his father is a magnificent bastard, one of Lord D'Hoffrin Top Ten. Buffy was present when we talked about that... Buffy?"  
  
Buffy was still looking to the girls. 'It's odd, I get both bad and good vibes from them'  
  
"Buffy, wake up!" said Dawn, waving a hand before Buffy's face.  
  
"Eh? Sorry, what were you saying?"  
  
"What you were looking at? You seemed almost catatonic again." asked Willow.  
  
"Those two girls over there." answered Buffy.  
  
"Do you like girls now, Buff?" said Xander  
  
"No, Xander. There is something about those girls, just looking at them I can tell you there is something wrong there, but at the same time that there is something very right... I don't know how to explain that."  
  
"Do you know the girl that was with Luthor jr.?" asked Arty  
  
"No, she must be a tourist, and I see that you still have sympathies toward the Luthors, don't you?"  
  
"If Lionel Luthor had spent a bit more in maintenance, my father wouldn't have suffered that accident" answered bitterly Arty, adding just after that "Although what Lex did with the plant when his father tried to close it was very nice."  
  
"Yes, it was a pity that..." Meg couldn't end the phrase as he fell from the chair and began to writhe in pain on the ground.  
  
"Oh my God! Somebody help me!" Arty had jumped from her chair almost immediately.  
  
A blonde young woman appeared almost instantly to her side, and helped Arty to lift Meg, making her pass each one of her arms over their necks, and taking Meg's hands hands.  
  
"Can you carry her while I try to call to the hospital?" asked Arty to the woman.  
  
"Ok" answered the blonde.  
  
Arty produced her cellphone from he backpack and saw that it was discharged. She remembered that she had forgotten to recharge the batteries last night, and cursed under her breath.   
  
"My cellphone is discharged, have you one?"  
  
"No, sorry. I have left mine where I am lodged" answered the blonde "But I think that..."  
  
"Hey, Arty. What's happening?" said Pete who had came from the bar.  
  
"Meg had gotten very ill, where's Lana?"  
  
"She caught Clark ogling the new waitress and they are having some words in the back store"  
  
"Ok, call the hospital, please."  
  
"There is a bed in the upper floor, she will be more comfortable there" said Pete while he was going back to the bar.  
  
Smallville streets   
  
Artemis Stevens had been trying to call her daughter, but either she had disconnected her cellphone or the battery was down.  
  
Carney house  
  
The green vapors dissipated , revealing the unconscious body of Chloe Sullivan on the floor. She started to move and opened her eyes, now glowing emerald orbs.  
  
Talon. Upper floor  
  
They left Meg on the bed, and waited:  
  
"Thanks for helping me... Goddess, I don't even know your name."  
  
"Buffy Summers." said Buffy, offering her hand.  
  
"Arty Stevens." replied Arty, shaking it.  
  
"Arty? Odd name for a girl."  
  
"It's a diminutive, my real name is Artemis, like my mother. I don't like it very much."  
  
"I can understand it." said Buffy, smiling, as she had never liked too much her real name.  
  
Buffy was starting to get restless. The feeling that there something very wrong here had increase. The Stevens girl seemed nervous, although she couldn't now if it was for her friend, who was finally silent although trembling, or something else. Finally Buffy decided to confront the girl.   
  
"So, what's going on?" asked Buffy, very serious, looking intently at Arty.  
  
"What do you mean? Meg is ill, that is all what is going on."  
  
"I don't mean that, Arty, and I think that you know it." said Buffy. "Something is amiss here, I can feel it, and it's related either with you or your friend."  
  
They were now giving their backs to Meg, who was slowly getting up, her eyes still closed.  
  
"I don't know what you are talking about." said Arty nervously, but her expression said another thing to Buffy.  
  
'She is hiding something, but I don't feel that she is a threat. But in that case, the threat can only be..."  
  
She turned, on time to see how Meg, her eyes open now, revealing twin unearthly glowing green orbs, jumping toward Arty saying, in an inhumanly deep, raspy voice:  
  
- SLAYER! -  
  
TO BE CONTINUED... 


	9. Interlude 1

Smallville: Amazons & Slayers by Antonio Cabañas  
  
Interlude 1  
  
Disclaimer: Smallville, Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and all related characters are trademarks of DC Comics, which is owned by Warner Bros. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters were created and are owned by Joss Whedon.  
  
E-mail: borg31de777yahoo.es.   
  
Spoilers: Smallville second season until "Rosetta" and the entire Buffy the Vampire Slayer series  
  
I wish to thank my beta-reader Carycomix for his help and support  
  
Answer to reviewers:  
  
Carycomic: I'm glad to hear from you again, and I'm sorry to hear that your mailbox is still malfunctioning. If the problem is from the server, I'd suggest that you change to another, but if it's from the computer... well, I don't know enough to help.  
  
Ragnhild: thanks, I plan to continue writing in the foreseable future. When my schedule allows (I am working this summer), I'll check your stories.  
  
Author Note 1: English is not my first language, so the story has probably a good quantity of errors. Please, be gentle in that issue, I can't reach my usual beta-reader (If anyone is interested, my e-mail is above).   
  
Author Note 2: this is an interlude written to set some thing for the climax and tie some loose ends, the main story will continue in next chapter.  
  
Summary: A mysterious woman comes to Smallville, jealousies in the Smallville High Athletic Team take a odd turn, a mystery from the past reappears and Clark become involved in all of that.  
  
Wayne Manor, Gotham City.  
  
Several years later...  
  
Hiding in the bushes before the gates of Wayne Manor, a paparazzi was very frustrated. He, and two of his colleagues of a tabloid had been assigned to try to get a picture of the multimillionaire playboy Bruce Wayne or from his last paramour, a bleached blonde popstar wannabe, but he hadn't any luck. He was the rookie and so he had to stand watch at the morning, when everybody knew that Mr. Wayne didn't got up of the bed before noon. The only people that had come in this morning had been a jogger with a sprained ankle and the rising star of the Daily Planet, Clark Kent. 'A very quiet morning, a wasted morning' he thought. Although he never knew that the first part was very wrong.  
  
Clark smiled when he saw what Diana was wearing, the usual sportswear of joggers. They were both in the batcave, waiting for the master of the house to reappear.  
  
"I suppose that those clothes were Bruce idea, Diana."  
  
"Oh, yes." answered princess Diana of Themyscira, more commonly known as Wonder Woman.   
  
"Where is him, by the way?"  
  
"He said that he had to test a new bulletproof fabric."  
  
"And the test had been successful, Clark." said Bruce, appearing from the shadows wearing a padded black jumpsuit that seemed very tight-fitted, and in the same time magnified his already impressive physique. "It's a pity that your friend Lex stole the formula and improved it. Lucius was very disappointed when Waynetech didn't won that Defense contract."  
  
"Lex ceased to be my friend years ago, Bruce." said Clark, a bit venomously. "Well, why are we here?"  
  
"Yes, you said that when Kal appeared you would tell us everything."  
  
"The reality is that I know the same than both of you. The ladies that had organized this are very tight-lipped, but that doesn't mean that I hadn't deducted some things."  
  
"Well, tell us what you have deducted."  
  
"All of this has to do with the first time that we met. Do you remember, Clark?"  
  
"Oh, yes." said Clark "By the way, Diana, how is Arty?"  
  
"She was quite well, last time that I saw her. She helped me to defeat Ares in one of his insane plots." answered Diana "Are you acting under orders of the Watcher Council?"  
  
"No, this came from Dr. Fate."  
  
"I'll explain everything in a moment" said a female voice which was vaguely familiar to all of them.  
  
Two women stepped out from the shadows. One was Inza, the wife of Kent Nelson, Dr. Fate, and the other was Dawn Summers.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED... 


	10. Chapter 8

****

Smallville: Amazons & Slayers

by Antonio Cabañas

Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Smallville, Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and all related characters are trademarks of DC Comics, which is owned by Warner Bros. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters were created and are owned by Joss Whedon.

E-mail: borg31de777yahoo.es.

Spoilers: Smallville second season until "Rosetta" and the entire Buffy the Vampire Slayer series

Author Note: English is not my first language, and I can't reach my usual beta-reader, so please, don't be too hard in that issue..

**Answer to reviewers:**

_Superfan: _thanks for yor support, and I want to excuse me by the lapse between updates. Vacations are never very productive.

**Summary:** A mysterious woman comes to Smallville, jealousies in the Smallville High Athletic Team take a odd turn, a mystery from the past reappears and Clark become involved in all of that.

Talon upper floor

Meg knocked down Arty, and said in the raspy inhuman voice that seemed to have taken control of her.

"You will come to me, Slayer!"

Buffy, already back on her feet, kicked Meg down and tried to immobilize her in the ground.

"Quick! Help me!" said Buffy.

Between both girls, they managed to keep Meg pinned down.

"Well, she was what was wrong here." said Buffy.

"But, why did she attack me? What is a 'Slayer', and why she called me that?"

Buffy, thinking quickly, said the date when Willow had activated all the Slayers.

"Does this date means something to you?" asked Buffy.

"The race!" said Arty "I won the goddamned race that day! I am the Track Team of the High School, we were running that day and I was last. Suddenly I felt like dying, but when that passed I won the race by a good margin. " she felt the impulse of trusting to this complete stranger things that she hadn't even told to her mother or her best friend. "Since then I have found that found that I am much faster and stronger than before..."

"You need to eat a lot more, don't need too much sleep and you recover quickly from wounds... Been there, done that and got the t-shirt" said Buffy "You are a Slayer, like me."

"But what in the Hell is a Slayer?"

"The full name is Vampire Slayer." said Buffy "Originally there was only one, but that day we changed the rules. Every girl that could become a Slayer become a Slayer that day. Since then we are collecting them and training them. We are always girls, chosen by The Powers That Be to fight evil and avoid its spread..."

Talon, backstore

"All right, Clark " said Lana when he ended to explain what had happened back in the Kent farm "She is not what she seems. You of all people..."

"Yes, yes, I know. It's not that she is hiding things what it's bothering me. It's the combination of that and something that Mrs. Stevens said three years ago, when we were celebrating Thanksgivings." said Clark and explained "She got a bit tipsy and said things that otherwise she hadn't said. Apparently her wedding hadn't been well received within her family, she and somebody called Hyppolita..."

"Artemis, Hyppolita, Diana... They seems to like the classical names" commented Lana.

"...I think that she can be Diana's mother, almost had a fight back then, and that she was expelled afterwards. Diana can have good intentions, by all that we know, but..."

His last words were drowned by a noise that sounded like somebody had fallen through the stairs.

The Talon. A few minutes before.

Artemis Stevens was reliving the harsh words of twenty years ago when she arrived to the Talon, where she looked around searching for her daughter. She saw her backpack in a chair, and a glass of lemonade in the table.

"Artemis?" said a female voice. Artemis recognized her, even if last time had been the voice of a girl instead of the voice of a young woman.

"Hello, Diana" she said in a cold voice, turning to see her 'niece' the amazon princess "You have grown a lot."

The smile that was in Diana's lips died when she heard the cold voice and saw the grim expression of Artemis. She sighed, this wasn't to be easy.

"Artemis, my mother sent me to..."

"I'm not coming back, Diana. Here I have a life and a family."

"I know, Artemis. I haven't come to..."

"Your mother didn't listen to me twenty years ago and I don't want to know what she has to say now." said Artemis, a bit more acidly of what she pretended "Where is my daughter?"

"I don't know where is your daughter, Artemis. She was sitting here with a friend, but when I came here to bring what they had ordered, they had disappeared."

Not too far from them, Lex Luthor was watching the exchange with keen interest.

A Smallville alley, not too far from the Talon.

Nobody saw the man who seemed to materialize from thin air, the same man who had been shadowing Artemis earlier. He walked toward the door, and saw that Artemis and the woman called Diana Prince were speaking. Unnoticed, he went to a table, where he suddenly looked up as if she had something that only he could hear.

Talon, upper floor

"That seems straight from a B-movie" said Arty ended to explain what was a Slayer "Vampires, werewolves, demons... that's a bit hard of swallow."

"And the meteor freaks are not?"

"Well..." then she paled when she remembered something "The Midwest Vampiress... she was a real vampiress, wasn't she?"

"Yes, one of my... pure predecessors killed her just before the meteors fell."

"Her father was one of her victims, Virgil Rawlings" said Arty "Can be related with this?"

"Honestly, I don't know. Rawlings was turned and he was buried in the meteor rain."

"Can he be still alive?" asked Arty, shifting slightly her weight over Meg.

That was all that Meg needed to kick Arty out of the way. Then she got up in an almost feline movement and pushed Buffy toward the stairs.

Talon

Artemis and Diana were silent, trying to find something to say when Buffy fell through the stairs, shortly followed by a scream.

"Goddess, Arty!" said Artemis, running toward the stairs with Diana in tow.

Talon, upper floor

When Arty managed to stand up and look to Arty, she screamed when she saw the changes that her friend had suffered. Her eyes were still two green glowing orbs, but parts of her skin were starting to show the same glow. She was advancing very slowly toward her.

"Meg, why are you doing this?" asked Arty, going back, although she knew that Meg was cornering her.

"You will..." started to say in the raspy voice, but then she stopped, and suddenly the glow in her eyes diminished "He is..." she said in her normal voice, but haltingly, as if forcing herself to speak me." then the glow reappeared and she advanced toward Arty again.

The glow diminished again and she came to a halt "I'm...trying...to...fight.. him...but.. he is... too... strong..."

"But who is controlling you?"

"My... father!" said Med as Artemis and Diana entered the room and the glow started to grow again "Please.. stop... me!"

Talon

"She should had waken up already" said Willow with a worried expression. They were crouched over Buffy, while the two women disappeared in the stairs.

"Look!" said Dawn, alarmed, when she saw that the ankh was starting to glow.

"I knew it!" said Willow taking the ankh in her hands. "I'm going to..."

'No!' said a male voice, or at least that was what seemed to Willow.

"Who has said that?"

"Wills, nobody have said anything" said Xander.

"But I have..."

'I need to speak with the Slayer, Ms. Rosenberg, and I am speaking to you through the ankh'

"And you are...?" said Willow aloud.

'Doctor Fate'

Willow gasped when she heard the name in her mind. Dr. Fate was a legend in magical circles, maybe the most powerful sorcerer that had ever existed.

A tower near Salem

"Where am I?" said Buffy, and then noticed that although she could still see herself, she could see through her own body "And why am I transparent?"

"You are in my tower, Slayer. And you are transparent because only your conscience is here. I need to talk with you, although I didn't expected you until the night" said a voice that she had heard before.

"Nelson!"

TO BE CONTINUED...


End file.
